Dancing With the Flames of the Past
by SweetNightmaresMyDarling
Summary: A blizzard hits Berk and the surround islands. The blizzard invites Death but also a new guest. Riding on a strange dragon, the rider welcomes a whole new quest for the gang. Hiccup, Snotlout, Astrid, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut try to help the rider out, which may cause a new problem. First FanFic Rated K until the war like scenes are introduced.
1. The Dragon and The Rider

**Alright so this is my first Fan Fiction... I will keep Author Notes to a minimum. I do not own HTTYD but the "mystery rider" is a special and dear character I have come up with who represents me. I will be doing some quick sketches of my character and the dragon. Your fan art will also be welcomed. Another small note is that I may do a "P.O.V." switch in the later chapters but I highly doubt it. Okay, I lied. Another small thing is...some chapters will be long and some will be short. Enjoy :).**

With the blizzard spitting snow at my already numb face, I decide to make a camp. A small, tight gathering of fur trees welcomes me with a heavy pine needle litter. Thunderfoot, my Two-Legged Racer, follows behind me. His eyes strain against the wind to see me. I plop down on the ground between the trees. Thunderfoot lays his head in front of me, with the rest of his body around me.

Thunderfoot, Thunder for short, is a dull gray dragon. He is wingless and walks on his hind legs. I stroke his large head, taking him in. His head is the size of a horse's, but he is young so it is rather small. Teeth hang out of his top lip, exposing his carnivore blood. His large hind legs are pure muscle with huge feet. Thunder's feet and large, long toes help him balance and gain ground. Thunder's tail is long and thick, helping him balance more. His chest is large, allowing more space for his lungs. His eyes are a dark green, like mine. His pupil is slit, just like the domestic cat at home.

I adjust the furs on Thunder's back, trying to keep him warm. A slight purring sound escapes his chest. I lean back against him, enjoying the break from the blizzard. The cold air still stings my face but the snow is no longer caking against it. I let my eyes drift closed.

No one is stupid enough to travel in this blizzard, but I am on a quest. This quest might be suicidal, but I have to. My dragon, Skullface, was murdered a few years ago. Not only was she my dragon, but she was Thunderfoot's mom.

I stand up, startling Thunderfoot. He shoots to his feet, looking for the danger. I grab the reins which are hooked to a collar around Thunder's neck. He looks down at me, his watching face turning into a grin. I pull myself up onto his back. Frowning, I notice the metal on my prosthetic right leg is frozen. I sigh, ignoring it. My legs dangle off of his sides. With a whistle, Thunder lets out a happy grunt and we run through the forest. His feet stomp against the ground, shaking some snow loose. I wrap the reins around my hands, holding on tightly. I pull my hood up over my head. With one of my hands, I slightly adjust the furs on Thunder's back.

We get to a downward slope. Thunder stops and softly dances around, asking if he can slide down.

"Slide down if you _really_ want to, Thunderfoot," I saw to him through the frost biting air.

Thunder lets out a roar of pleasure and runs. He places his front legs on the ground and stops moving his legs. Thunder throws his head in air, enjoying his time. I wrap me arms around his neck and squeeze my eyes shut. The blizzard ruins my fun.

I raise my head after hearing Thunder's groan as we get close to the bottom. Thunder thrusts one of his legs to the side to go around a tree. I tighten my legs around his ribcage and throw my hands into the air. I let out a yell of joy as we hit the bottom of the mountain. I grab onto the reins once more. Thunder struggles to catch his step and we stumble forward. He crashes into the ground, sending me flying across the snow.

I sit up, groaning, "Thunderfoot? Are you okay?"

I hear a weak roar back. I see him a few hundred feet away. I stand up but fall right back down. My prosthetic leg lies beside Thunderfoot. Frowning more, I stand up, balancing on my good, full leg.

"Do not move!"

I spin around. I see a group of 6 teenagers. I collapse again. An eager, worried whine comes from behind me.

"I'm okay Thunderfoot," I whisper.

"Hey, we said not to move! You're on thin ice," I threatening, yet gentle voice calls over.

I look down, gazing beneath me. I take a gentle hand to move snow out of the way.

"Thunder, give me the _leg_!" I scream in terror. The teenagers look at me in confusion but I throw a hand in the air. Thunderfoot tosses my prosthetic leg. I catch it flawlessly in my hand. I slowly pull my pants leg up of what remains of my leg; small stump remains just below my knee. I take the prosthetic and strap it on. It remains frozen, but it's useful. I look forward at the teenagers. The scrawny, brown haired boy looks at me with astonishment. I stand up and run towards Thunderfoot. The ice cracks below me but I'm too fast for it. I reach the shore, grab Thunderfoot's reins, pull myself up, and we run southward. The teenagers try to keep up. One of the boys keeps calling out something. _Toothless_?

A loud screeching noise fills the air. Thunderfoot shudders beneath me. His breathing becomes rough with fear. The screech returns again. Night Fury? We leap over a boulder and land in a bowl like area. Thunderfoot slowly walks towards a pond. I scan the sky, looking for the dragon. I rub Thunderfoot's neck.

"I think they're gone, Thunder," I say in a hoarse tone.

"Nope we're still here," a girls voice echoes through the bowl.

Thunderfoot spins around, almost giving me whiplash. A Night Furry looks at us, bearing its teeth. Two of the teens climb off of its back. The girl has blonde hair pulled back in a braid. The boy is the one with the brown hair. I pull on Thunderfoot's reins, telling him to back up. He steps back, his foot landing on the ice. Thunder jerks his head up as he is spooked and we go into the freezing water.

"Hiccup!" The girl yells. I try to get out of the water but my prosthetic gets on _something_ in the water.

I feel claws pull at my shoulders. I look up through the water, seeing Thunderfoot pulling at me. His head swings around, his jaw falling open. I hear the muffled roar. He's trying to save and protect me. I hold onto his arms. My chest tightens as the oxygen disappears from my lungs. Thunderfoot draws away. After a few seconds, a human jumps into the water. I frantically reach down to unstrap my prosthetic. My vision slowly gets dark. My body starts to give up. Foreign hands grab at my leg. The straps are released then I swim up to the surface. Thunderfoot, being held down by the Night Fury, squirms as he tries to get to me.

The boy climbs out of the water and pulls me towards him. My body shivers, trying to warm itself up. I pull away from him, trying to get to my dragon.

The girl tackles me to the ground and holds me still. I yell and claw at her. She looks at me gently and says, "You need to come with us. You're going to die out here in those soaked clothes."

I look her up and down. Her spiked skirt dangles above my stomach. Reluctantly, I nod at her.

She gets up, and motions for the boy to come over. I start to stand when loud screeches and roars fill the air. Thunderfoot kicks at the Night Fury and runs towards me. He stands in front of me, snarling at the Night Fury. The boy steps out to the black dragon and whispers something inaudible.

Thunderfoot rubs his head against my shoulder, wanting me on his back. "Calm down, buddy," I say as I stroke his chin.

"I'm Hiccup," The boy says slowly as he points to himself, "and she is Astrid. My dragon over there is Toothless. I'm sorry if we spooked you. We just didn't expect to find a random person sliding down the hill."

"My name is Ryan. A different name than what you're used to, I'm sure," I say with a smile. "This is Thunderfoot."

The boy steps forward and says, "What kind of dragon is he?"

"We call them…_him_ a Two-Legged Racer."

Hiccup smiles slightly and says, "We should get you in front of a fire."

Astrid shakes her head. "What about her leg?"

Hiccup frowns and slides one of his legs out of view. "I can make her a new one."

I tightly hold the reins, helping me stand. "I can just get it later. You don't need to be that nice to me."

Hiccup chuckles and calls over his dragon. He climbs onto his back and calls over, "Follow me. Astrid, do you want a ride?"

"Nah, I'll make sure she gets to Berk safely," she says with a small smile.

I hop onto Thunder. "You can ride with me if you want to." She may not know it, but I'm nervous enough that I could possibly die…

Astrid shrugs and looks up at us. "Alright." I pull her up. Thunder starts to trot after Toothless and Hiccup. "Wait. How are we going to get up the cliff?" We watch Toothless fly up over the cliff.

"Thunderfoot is a dragon without wings. He's a _master_ with his legs," I laugh. Thunder foot flawlessly leaps on each rock.

Hiccup laughs and commands Toothless to go home. They disappear down the trail. "I-I don't know my way…" I say to Astrid.

"Straight down the hill," she says.

I nod and we start trotting down the hill.


	2. What secrets?

The town is _huge_! My home was small with a few scattered houses, the main hall, a few farms, and a building where all the dragons stayed. Here, there are a good 40 homes scattered around, an arena like place, watch towers, many farms dotting the outskirts, a huge main hall, and a perfect view of the sea.

"This is Berk," Hiccup says as he meets us at the tree line.

Astrid slides off of Thunderfoot and calls out something I couldn't understand. A beautiful Deadly Nadder runs up to her. "This is my dragon, Stormfly." She hops onto Stormfly. "Main hall, my house, or your house, Hiccup?"

"Main hall. It's way warmer there," Hiccup says to her. "Can you take her? I have to talk to Gobber."

Astrid nods and motions me to follow her. We make our way up a mountain. A few people dot the snow, but none notice me. Astrid makes Stormfly run faster.

Thunderfoot easily catches up. "Which building?"

"The one on the very top. Race you there!" Astrid calls out.

Thunderfoot and I make our way up the path with ease. Astrid makes a loud groan noise as we reach the doors. Who is this girl? She seems to be opening up to me quite easily.

I climb off of Thunder and hold onto the reins for balance. Astrid walks up to the doors and opens them. We make our way in, our dragons following us. A large man with a red mass of beard watches me closely. Astrid seats me next to a fire then looks at Thunderfoot. She inspects the reins and his body.

The bench creaks as the large man sits next to me.

"You look oddly _familiar_," his voice boomed.

"I…uh…" I whimper slightly as the man inspects me. He looks up to see Thunder.

He eyes Astrid who jerks her head towards the doors. The man nods and walks outside.

Astrid sits on the floor. "So…where did you come from?"

My heart dropped to the floor. Why do people have to be curious? I choked as I tried to talk. "I'm from the tribe Ugly Warthogs. I left right before a war started. I didn't know it was going to start, so I don't know if everyone is OK."

Astrid nods. The doors open as the scrawny boy walks in. His dragon follows him then joins the other two dragons in the corner.

"Sorry, I'm back," Hiccup says as he sits down next to Astrid. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins are back. I told them to come find us here once they're- oh there they are."

The other teenagers walk in and wave in our direction. The muscular boy makes a strange hand motion at me, sending a shiver up my spine. The twins sit on either side of me, the chubby boy sits next to Astrid, and the strange muscular boy sits next to Hiccup. I look around, wanting a way out of this place.

Hiccup sighs and says, "Well this is us, Ryan." He points at the female twin. "She's Ruffnut and her brother is Tuffnut." He points to the strange boy. "This is my cousin, Snotface… Snotlout." Hiccup then points to the chubby boy. "He is Fishlegs."

They all wave at me. The twins lean back against the table.

Hiccup awkwardly clears his throat and asks, "May I ask why you were in the forest during _that_ blizzard?"

I sigh, "I'm hunting for _someone_."

Fishlegs adjusts his shirt and leans towards Hiccup. He whispers something that causes Hiccup's posture to turn rigid.

Hiccup looks up at me and says, "Is this someone a person who killed a dragon like _yours_?"

Blood drains from my face. I stand up, but fall over. Hiccup and Snotlout catch me by my arms. I mumble my words, "How did _you_ know?" The boys sit me back on the bench.

Fishlegs automatically stands up and walks towards a chest by the table where that large man was. He pulls a large leather saddle out of it. He wobbles back over to me and places it on my lap. My fingers gently caress the leather. The designs engraved in the leather depict a young girl with a prosthetic leg riding on a Two-Legged Racer. I fumble at the pouch on the side of the saddle.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut help me open the pouch. I pull a sketch book out of it and open it. All of my drawings of my dear dragoness and new prosthetic legs were in here. Hiccup climbs onto his knees.

"I love the drawings," he says softly. I smile weakly as I gaze through the book. "We don't know who exactly did it, but we've been looking for the dragon's owner. We never seen this type of dragon before and it to have a saddle on with no rider is strange. We thought that the rider was killed also."

I sank down onto the bench. "She ran off when she thought she found another of her kind. You see, Two-Legged Racers are extremely rare. There is only allowed to be 3 alive at a time. We never found out why. Thunderfoot over there, he is and will be the last. Thunderfoot and she were my only friends. She was my dragon, we had the life bond. But it was severed when Thunderfoot came home with the most petrified look on his face…" My voice trails off as I begin to remember.

They all look at each other. I continue to look through the pouch.

"Ryan, can you come with me?" Hiccup says. I look up at him nervously. I nod at him and set the saddle down with my sketch book behind me on the table. Thunderfoot notices me wanting to stand. He comes over and helps me walk with Hiccup.

We walk through the doors and out into the snow. He leads us down to a small, rough looking building. The large man stood there, talking to another large, but smaller man, with a long blonde mustache, braided on both sides.

Hiccup looks back at me. "Thunderfoot won't fit in here. I'll help you."

I release my dragon and nervously let the boy hold me by my waist.

"I'm a blacksmith so I'm going to help you with your leg. Gobber will also," Hiccup smiles and walks into the backroom. I sit down on one of the chair and watch Hiccup sit down at the desk. Papers lay scattered all over it, exposing some of his ideas. "How'd you lose your leg?"

The question caught me by surprise. "I was training with the other teenagers in my tribe. I was admired for my strength and speed but I was still different. My father is the chief, so people tended to leave me alone. Well, this girl who got jealous attacked me while we were out traveling and hunting. She kept telling me she didn't want to kill me but she wanted to make me live in embarrassment. She took my axe and cut my leg off…"

Hiccup looks at me with a frown. His hand holds up the pants leg and shows me. "I lost my foot while fighting the Red Death. Toothless saved my life." I look at his prosthetic. Similar to mine, only mine was longer.

I looked down at the ground. I can tell by his attitude and body that he had a life like mine. His green eyes told me many stories. I have scars on my body and in my emotions.

"Hi there, lass," a gruff voice breaks my train of thought.

I look up at the large man, his blonde mustache making me smile.

"Name's Gobber," he says as he holds out his hook hand.

Laughing, I take it and shake it. "My name is Ryan."

"Aye, an odd name ye've got."

I nod.

Gobber lets out a friendly laugh, "Seems like we're all missing something in this room."

It took me a moment to understand what he meant. Both Hiccup and I lightly laughed at his joke. Gobber kneels down in front of me, examining my leg.

"Not that much different from Hiccup over there. How'd you get around before?"

"I made my own prosthetic that got stuck in the pond…"

Gobber reaches a hand out to me missing leg. "May I, lass?"

I was slightly nervous about him touching my leg but he seems like a kind, good man. I nod. He gently rolls up my pants leg. His hand gently grazes the scarred tissue.

"Eh, I can have one done for ye by sunset. Hiccup'll take ye back to the Main Hall," he says as he pulls me up on my foot.

Hiccup grabs my arm and guides me outside. I hear a loud crashing sound to my left. The twins are practically trying to kill each other! Ruffnut shoves Tuffnut off of a roof.

"Hiccup! What are they…" I start off to say when I notice Thunderfoot is gone. "Thunderfoot!"

Hiccup holds me by his side. Right about now, I'm use to the awkward closeness. "I'm sure he didn't go far-"

"You're close to your dragon. Has your dragon left to make you happy before? I'm sure he has."

Hiccup looks at me with a frown. "So Thunderfoot left to fetch your leg..?"

Nodding, I whistle into the air. I strain my ears to hear any call back. Nothing. My heart aches as the worst possible cases flood my thoughts. "I need to get him. Now."

Hiccup groans and moves in a circle. I look at him, slightly confused. He calls out for Toothless and climbs on. "Astrid…Gah never mind. Get on. Let's go."

I hesitate as I climb onto the Night Fury. If his girlfriend - _right?_ - got upset, I'll take the blame.

We take to the sky as we make our way toward the bowl area. I scan the forest, wanting to find my dragon. I hold onto the sides of the saddle with my legs tight on Toothless' sides.

The sudden drop from the sky made it tempting to hold onto Hiccup, who was securely strapped down. But…I didn't want him thinking I like him. We land on the ground. I automatically run towards my dragon. His head flies up out of the water, looking at me. Disappoint floods his expression but I hug him close. I turn to look at Hiccup.

"Turn around," I command.

Hiccup looks at me, extremely confused but listens. I strip my clothes off, including my breast support and underwear. I jump into the water and dig around for my prosthetic leg. I find the cold metal and I start to tug on it. Looking around the mud, I see what is holding it. I pull at the strangely shaped rock.

A loud splash behind me and I feel those familiar claws around my waist. I try to rip them off me, then I notice what the rock actually was; _a clawed hand_. I yank my prosthetic out of its grips then swim to the surface.

I toss my metal leg out of the water then see Hiccup looking down at me, worried. The snow stings my hands as I try to pull myself to land. "Please turn around," I yell over at Hiccup.

Hiccup puts his hands over his eyes and turns around. Thunderfoot comes up to me, dripping in water. He nudges me as he keeps a small flame in his open mouth. Thunder puts his mouth close to my body, drying me. As he warms me, I pull my clothes on. I pull my large black fur tunic on. I shiver as it instantly makes me warm.

I continue to sit on the ground. Then, I fall over as I remember the clawed hands. Tears start to stream down my face.

I hear a loud shriek that was followed but the pounding of wings. Cautious weary hands rest on my side. I fly up onto my foot, only to fall down again. I scramble towards Thunder foot, who is obviously shocked by my reactions. In his jaws were my prosthetic. I grab the leg and place it onto my stump then strap it on. I leap onto a surprised Two-Legged Racer. Thunder took my reaction to "_run as fast as possible_". The _clawed hands_…the _story_…my_ father_…his _dragon_…


End file.
